LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - February 17, 2016) -  IDG World Expo and Digital Media Wire's third annual Digital Entertainment World (DEW) today announced the three-day Los Angeles conference wrapped last week with attendance leaping by nearly 20% over last year and a full one-third higher than the inaugural 2014 event.

Over 1,800 attendees mixed with C-Level thought leaders at the intersection of technology and entertainment who participated in more than 100 sessions, turning DEW into the top-trending topic on Twitter in Los Angeles on its first full day of sessions at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

The conference concluded Thursday with journalist and entrepreneur Jon Erlichman, CEO of unique live-streaming service Parachute TV -- Periscope's first TV channel -- crowned the winner among the 12 finalists of the DEW Startup and Pitch Competition. DEW recognized Parachute TV, which through a single Periscope account offers more than 50 scheduled shows per week and is planning to create more than 30 hours of original content, as the most innovative global startup.

Parachute TV will receive a $50,000 prize package, including one-year of free premium hosting service on Rackspace; an exhibitor package and four all-access registrations; an invitation to the San Francisco office of IDG Ventures for a two-hour consultation with senior partners of the firm; a marketing services package from Digital Media Wire; as well as legal services from Baker & Hostetler.

The startup competition was capped by one of the highlights of the show, when Erlichman was invited to join the closing keynote conversation with Kevin Mayer, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Speaking before a standing room only crowd, Mayer discussed the important role startups plays in the entertainment ecosystem and engaged in a discussion with moderator Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors about a range of topics including the Disney Accelerator, emerging businesses new to Disney's portfolio and evaluating new technology and business models. During his tenure, Mayer has overseen Disney's strategic acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Club Penguin and Maker Studios and oversees the Disney Accelerator, a program designed to accelerate the growth of startup companies from around the world.

2016 DEW Highlights

The three days and five industry specific tracks at DEW featured a number of high-profile conversations featuring senior executives from top media and entertainment companies. The discussions covered the future of content monetization, the emergence of virtual reality, as well as monetization challenges and opportunities they face. Highlights included:

• Internet celebrity Logan Paul delving deep into his relationships with brands and authenticity.
• The executive team behind Otter Media, the joint video venture from AT&T and The Chernin Group making their public debut on stage with executives from Fullscreen and Ellation as well. 
• Bento Box Entertainment co-founders Scott Greenberg and Joel Kuwahara choosing DEW as the venue to announce the creation of a new young adult animation production arm -- Bento Box Digital Studios -- and plans to create a 2D animation VR channel with Littlstar.
• Kristin Patrick, Global Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo gave a conference-goers peak into the company's global content strategy.
• Nick Shore, Chief Creative Officer, Astronauts Wanted talked with Lilly "iiSuperwomanii" Singh (YouTuber/Actress) about diversity.

Additional top-tier names speaking on the main stage this year:

• Ocean MacAdams, Vice President, GoPro
• Brett Bouttier, President, AwesomenessTV
• Ross Levinsohn, Board of Directors, Tribune Company, Millennial Media, ZEFR, DramaFever
• Ralf Jacob, Chief Revenue Officer, Verizon Digital Media Services
• Adrian Sexton, Interim President & COO, Endemol Beyond USA
• Jimmy Chamberlin, Drummer, Smashing Pumpkins / CEO, BlueJStrategies
• Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, 20th Century Fox
• Mike Sepso, Senior Vice President, Activision Blizzard
• And more

Ned Sherman, the executive producer of Digital Entertainment World, also produces and curates New York Media Festival, which evolved out of his DMW Week and takes place each fall in Manhattan. In 2015 -- its first year under the New York Media Festival brand -- attendance rose from 1000 to 4300+ registered attendees across 24 city-wide events including three conferences, an innovation track, nightly industry VIP dinners, open houses at Conde Nast Entertainment, iHeartMedia, The Orchard and others, as well as several parties. Here's a list of speakers: http://mefest.com/speakers. 

For more information about DEW, including a complete list of speakers and the full agenda, visit www.DEWExpo.com. 

About Digital Entertainment World:
DEW is a joint venture between IDG World Expo, an award-winning producer of tradeshows and events, including Macworld/iWorld, the MacIT® Conference, the Electronic Entertainment Expo® (E3®), and The Game Marketing Summit, and Digital Media Wire, a media and marketing consultancy and event producer with leading events including DMW Week NYC, NY Games Conference, Future of Television, Digital Music Forum and LA Games Conference.